Eastern Carolina Barbeque in LA?

[Historically Core]

Where can you get real Eastern Carolina style barbeque (vinegar based) in LA?

[Servorg]

Not really. Some places offer a pulled pork sandwich that bears a passing resemblance to Carolina style BBQ like Baby Blues in Venice. There was a post saying that Uncle Andre's in Studio City in the Valley offered that style, but I have never been. Spring Street Smokehouse BBQ in the downtown LA area offers a "Carolina" style BBQ sauce and may be your best bet.

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Baby Blues BBQ
444 Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA 90291

Spring Street Smokehouse BBQ
640 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Uncle Andre's BBQ
11715 Moorpark St, Studio City, CA 91604

[lakeshow318]

baby blue's is a favorite of mine but i can honestly say their pulled pork is no way close to real north carolina bbq. can't speak of spring street as i've never been.

[sbritchky]

If Lexington #1 in Lexington, NC, were within 500 miles, I'd get in the car and drive over today!

Back in Los Angeles, I'm not so specific about BBQ styles -- just grateful to find any edible Q, or even L, M, N, O, P. Being a naive idealist, I plan to try (or retry) a couple of places in the coming week and will report back if I find anything good whether Carolina style or not.

[exilekiss]

Hi sbritchky,

I look forward to your report! :)

[Professor Salt]

Haven't heard of any restaurants that serve vinegar sauce, no. I sort of follow the BBQ scene and if I hear any of such animal, I'll be sure and post about it here.

[sbritchky]

Johnny Rebs' has "Carolina-style" pulled pork with what they call a Carolina sauce, but I haven't tried it, because JR's is no longer one of my favorites. (The quality of some items has slipped in recent years, although the hushpuppies are still great.) Also, not all Carolina sauce is vinegar-based, and not all vinegar-based sauces (if that's the real interest, here) originate in the Carolinas. E.g., I used to get a great vinegar sauce at a small chain in Richmond, VA, run by Virginians, not ex-pat Carolinians.

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Johnny Rebs' Southern Roadhouse
16639 Bellflower Blvd, Bellflower, CA 90706

[Das Ubergeek]

Johnny Rebs' does have Carolina sauce, but it's western Carolina. Western Carolina sauce has ketchup in it; Eastern Carolina doesn't.

Eastern Carolina is my absolutely favourite barbecue, and JR isn't it. That isn't to say that the barbecue is bad (it isn't bad, far from it), but it isn't Eastern Carolina either.

Uncle Andre's is revolting. They steam their meat first and they must use liquid smoke because their pork doesn't have the ring on it. It gets all rubbery. It does not taste like barbecue, and their sauce is heavily sweet, which is more or less the antithesis of Eastern Carolina sauce.

I haven't found any Eastern Carolina barbecue here, but I don't exactly go up to LA much (from OC), so it could be lurking. I dream of Prosser's BBQ in Pawleys Island, SC...

[ChinoWayne]

Bad Bob's in Chino Hills, it seems to be a franchise, and yes vinegar based and you can get pulled pork. Now the possibly bad news, the last time the Mrs. cruised by because she was hungry, the place looked closed up.

Here is a previous report: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/499517

[ChinoWayne]

Scratch Bad Bob's, locked up tight, all the equipment disconnected and ready to be shipped out.

[hungry_monkey]

Zeke's Smokehouse has a vinegar based sauce. I'm a fan of their pulled pork sandwiches.

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Zeke's Smokehouse
2209 Honolulu Ave, Montrose, CA 91020

Zeke's Smokehouse
7100 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046

[Bert]

unfortunately, zeke's is a mustard (not vinegar) based south carolina style bbq. I have looked everywhere for the past 10 years and can't find Eastern Carolina style Q.

Fyi, Eastern style Q usually isn't even really "sauced." the vinegar/spice mixture is a liquid that's just added to moisten the meat a bit, and it's served either on a sandwich or a plate without additional sauce. if you do get additional sauce, it should be runny and not thick at all (like the texture of tomato juice).

Anyway, if anyone finds stuff like that, please let us know!

[ChinoWayne]

See my post above, I believe Bad Bob's meets your criteria.

[hungry_monkey]

Sorry, I guess I'm not as educated in Carolina as I thought. Admittedly, I thought Carolina style was Carolina style. The pulled pork sauce I make (touted N.Carolina style) is a mustard-vinegar-(and ketchup) sauce and I guess I never was aware of all the various intricacies in regard to Carolina barbecue styles.

[Tapeworm]

A new BBQ chain that has a vinegar-based sauce is coming to OC. Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach also has a vinegar-based sauce as an option.

http://fastfood.freedomblogging.com/2009/01/26/another-fast-food-bbq-chain-heads-to-oc/4034/

http://www.virginiabbq.com/vabbq_menu...